


Everything Changes, Everything Stays The Same

by Rilannon



Category: British Comedy RPF
Genre: Domestic, F/M, Friends to Lovers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-21
Updated: 2020-02-21
Packaged: 2021-02-28 05:41:40
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,632
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22828861
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rilannon/pseuds/Rilannon
Summary: You and James have been friends for a while, but everything changes when you become flatmates.With bonus cameos from Nish, Josh and Ed!
Relationships: James Acaster/Reader
Comments: 8
Kudos: 69





	Everything Changes, Everything Stays The Same

**Author's Note:**

> I wrote this with a female reader in mind (Me, I wrote it with me in mind) but it ended up being fairly gender neutral almost by accident! 
> 
> Please let me know what you think, I've been in an Acaster haze for a week and I don't know the way out any more!

You and James have been friends for a while, first introduced at a party by a mutual friend. You were aware of him before that of course, between his various TV appearances and stand up success and you already knew that he was a very funny, if somewhat strange guy. After getting to know him, you realise that while the strangeness is there, it’s definitely played up for his stage persona. In reality he’s more relaxed, still fond of a weird tangent but far less emotionless than he can come across on stage. You soon become close friends, connecting over food and music and terrible films. 

The two of you becoming flatmates was more the case of right place, right time than anything you had planned. You were both coming to the end of tenancy agreements with other people, and during a group dinner after a particularly frustrating afternoon flat searching, the idea gets suggested that the two of you would find it much easier to find somewhere if you shared together. Once this was agreed, it didn’t take long for you to find somewhere suitable and get moved in. 

And that was when everything changed for you. 

You had always found James attractive, in an abstract sort of way. You had never really given it much thought, and less so once you became friends. Becoming flatmates changed all that. Seeing James stumbling out of his room after a gig late the night before, hair somehow even more fluffy than usual as he heads to the bathroom becomes the highlight of your mornings. You quickly learn that James sleeps in a t-shirt and boxers, so you get to see him in a state of undress with great regularity. Your room backs on to the bathroom, so you occasionally hear him attempting to sing in the shower, which then leads to you thinking about James in the shower, the water running down his skinny frame and gangly limbs. The first time you catch yourself thinking about James in the shower, you blush bright red and can’t meet his eyes for the rest of the day. 

As time goes on, your embarrassment becomes less as your crush on him slowly grows. He doesn’t help matters by being kind and adorable, doing little things like bringing you soup when you’re sick. Even if it’s just reheated soup from a tin, you’re still very appreciative of the gesture. You do little things for him too, like making sure you pick up his favourite Ben and Jerrys flavour when you go shopping. When he leaves to go on tour the flat feels empty without him, and you make sure to spend plenty of time with your friends to mask how much you miss him. Sometimes you’ll catch yourself thinking about him in the pub, and glance up to see Nish or Josh looking at you with a knowing smile. Ed actually corners you at a party while James is in Australia, and his knowing grin and the several drinks you’ve had that night cause you to spill your feelings to him. You swear him to secrecy, which he agrees to on the condition that you tell James that you fancy him when he returns to the UK. You agree, reluctantly, scared of losing your friendship and closeness with James if he reacts badly. Ed reassures you that, at worst, things might be a bit awkward for a few days, but James would never throw away a friendship over something like that. 

James gets back from Australia two weeks later. The day he returns, you make sure that you are free that evening and that the fridge and freezer are fully stocked with all his favourites. James comes stumbling through the door with his suitcase clattering behind him, and when you stand up from the sofa to greet him he envelops you in a big hug, pulling you close. You hear the suitcase drop to the floor, but all you can focus on is James’s body pressed against yours, his height causing you to feel protected and safe as he curls around you. You don’t hug often, neither of you being physically affectionate people, so this is unusual, but you don’t question it. He sighs into your hair. “I missed you." 

You freeze, not expecting this at all. Had Ed said something to him before he came back? Had he boarded the flight home and left his inhibitions in Australia? Was this some imposter? Before you have a chance to gather your thoughts and respond, he pulls away from the hug and meets your eyes with a smile. “Please tell me you didn’t eat all the Cooke Dough ice cream?” 

You laugh and point him towards the kitchen and the fully stocked fridge and freezer and watch as he digs through the freezer, cracks open the tub and digs in with a spoon. You decide that telling him how you feel can wait, just for tonight. 

Weeks pass. 

You still haven’t told James how you feel, and every time you see Ed he gets a bit more impatient with you. Eventually you remind him that no time limit was set for when you had to tell James, just that it was after he got back to the UK. Ed grumbles at this but lets it drop when James comes over to talk to the two of you. 

You and James have been getting closer too. After the hug when he returned from Australia, you have been hugging more often, and evenings in watching TV soon end up with your feet in his lap or his head in yours. The first time, he had been complaining of a headache all day, and finally you offered to give him a scalp massage to try and help. You were only partially serious, so you were surprised to find yourself with a lap full of fluffy curls as he settled down on the sofa. You tentatively begin to dig your fingers into his hair, massaging his scalp and causing him to let out a little moan of contentment.

You freeze, your brain finally catching up with everything, but he just rolls over to glare at you with one eye. “Why did you stop?” 

You startle slightly. “Sorry, I wasn’t sure if I was making your headache worse.” 

He rolls back so he’s facing the TV again. “No, it felt good. Keep going" 

You let out the breath you were holding in a rush, James's words affecting you more than you’re willing to let on. You carry on massaging his scalp and temples trying to sooth his headache away, noting how soft his hair is under your fingers. Soon, you’re just petting his hair, and you notice that his breathing has evened out. He’s drifted off to sleep in your lap, and you feel a rush of affection and protectiveness that defies anything you’ve felt before. You think about waking him to let him go to sleep in his own bed and you can go to your own, but you decide to leave him for a few more minutes. You let yourself close your eyes, just for a little bit...

You wake the next morning to an empty sofa. You’re disorientated for a moment before the memories of the night before come flooding back. You look around and notice a note on the coffee table in front of you. In James's scrawl it reads “Thanks for last night, I haven’t slept so well in ages! Got meetings all day today, see you tonight. James X" 

You stare at it for a few minutes, reading and re-reading it before getting up to start your day. The note never leaves your thoughts, and you find yourself obsessing over every word. When you get home James is there in the kitchen, attempting to follow a recipe online. He flashes you a smile before turning back to the cooker, and you find yourself doubting everything you read into it. Maybe it was just meant at face value, and he was just thanking you for helping him get rid of the headache and get to sleep. You decide not to ask about it tonight, and go to save James and the cooking from each other. 

Soon, a new series of Mock the Week rolls around, and James is once again asked to go on it. You have the day off work as he managed to get you a ticket to the recording, and as you are getting ready you hear him rummaging around in his room and swearing. You poke your head around the door and freeze. James is topless and rummaging through a pile of shirts on the floor. He’s clearly looking for a particular shirt for his appearance tonight, but you’re distracted by all the smooth, pale skin on display. James is normally very shy about his body, and despite living with him for several months, you’ve never seen him without a shirt on. Even on his way back to his room after a shower he would put his t-shirt back on to make the dash to his room, towel around his waist. You sometimes fantasize about his towel falling, him scrabbling to catch it before you get a real eyeful, but to your disappointment it never happens. 

You’re shaken from your stupor by his noise of triumph before he stands up, the shirt in hand. He turns slightly, catches sight of you out of the corner of his eye and visibly startles. You watch as he blushes, and the blush spreads down his neck and over the top of his chest. He quickly pulls the shirt on and does the buttons up, although you notice his hands are slightly shaky. You apologise for interrupting and head back to your own room, but the image is seared into your brain and you know you’ll never be able to get it out of your head. By the time James comes out of his room and you leave to head to the recording, the blush has mostly receded and everything seems to be back to normal. The recording goes great, everyone involved was very funny, and you go out for drinks with James and some of the other comedians afterwards. 

That night, the dreams start. 

It’s as if your brain just needed that one image to be able to start filling in the gaps in your mental picture of James's body. In your dream you’re both naked in your bed, James under you as your bodies press together. He looks up at you in awe as you ride him, his hands restless on you, sweeping up your side before dropping down to where you are joined. You feel the pleasure start to build to a crescendo, when he suddenly surges upwards and rolls the two of you over, blanketing you with his body as you moan and thrust together. He rests his face in the hollow of your throat, pressing open mouthed kisses there almost mindlessly. As you both lose rhythm and begin to fall over the edge, he sighs “Oh fuck, ...”

You wake, trembling and breathing hard. You quietly reach down to finish yourself off, but it feels hollow compared to your dream. You drift off to sleep again afterwards but you sleep fitfully and don’t feel very well rested the next day. James looks at you concerned but you play it off as having too much to drink the night before and he lets it go, for which you are grateful. You don’t think you’d be able to explain to James that you had been woken up by a very hot sex dream with him in the starring role. 

Three days later, you are getting ready to go out and meet up with some friends for a night out. You get all dressed up, hoping to meet someone to go home with. You’re not usually one for casual sex, but after 4 nights in a row of very hot sex dreams starring James, you decide that you need to get some of this horniness out of your system if you want to maintain your friendship with him. The last thing you want is to alienate him by pushing him away because you can’t deal with the attraction any more. 

James notices you all dressed up when you come out of your room and sits up straighter on the sofa. You smile at him and quickly duck into the bathroom to check your hair in the mirror. You jump when you see James in the mirror, standing in the doorway behind you. There’s a look in his eyes that you can’t quite place, but your heart rate picks up as he continues to stare at you. Eventually you turn around. “So, what do you think?”   
You regret the question as soon as you ask it. James's eyes seem to darken as he looks you over, and you try not to squirm under his gaze. His eyes come back to meet yours.

“You look incredible".

There’s no joking in his tone of voice, only a roughness and sincerity that catches you off guard. Your smile fades and your knees weaken as you continue to stare at each other across the bathroom. “Thank you" you offer quietly, before moving away from the sink towards the door. James moves to one side, but you still have to brush past him in the doorway of the bathroom. The tension is electric, crackling between you as you step out into the hallway. He turns. “I’m going to have a shower, have a good night out.” 

You thank him and escape to your room to put your shoes on. You shut your door and lean against it, breathing hard and letting the last few minutes play back in your mind. There was no other explanation for that, James was clearly checking you out. What you needed to work out was if you both thought that making a move was something worth risking your friendship for. 

You reach for your phone to text Ed to let him know what just happened, but it’s not there. A quick search of your room comes up empty, until you realise with dawning horror that you put it down on the edge of the sink when you were sorting your hair in the bathroom, and forgot to pick it up due to James distracting you. The same James who is in there right now, about to have a shower. If you’re quick, you might be able to catch him before he gets in the shower, but as you head towards the door you can clearly hear the sounds of the water running. Your brain provides you with the mental images of James in the shower, wet and flushed with the heat, and you groan to yourself. There’s nothing for it, you need to get your phone. You’ll just have to knock on the door and politely ask him to hand it to you. 

You get out of your room, and approach the bathroom door. The shower sounds are clearer now, and if you focus you can nearly hear the sounds of the water hitting James’s naked body... 

You shake your head to clear those thoughts and knock firmly on the door. For a moment there is only the sound of the shower, until that is cut off. “Yeah?” James calls out from inside. 

“Sorry but I left my phone on the sink. Could you pass it to me?”

“Not really, I’m in the shower!” 

“Yes, I figured that out.” You have a terrible, brilliant idea. “Can I just pop in and grab it then? You can just hide behind the shower curtain, I promise I won’t peek!” 

Your idea is met with silence. For a moment you think you’ll have to make do without your phone, but then “OK, but no peeking!” 

You steady yourself on the door handle for a moment. You’re about to enter a room with a naked James Acaster, even if he is behind a shower curtain and you promised not to peek. You take a deep breath and open the door. 

The first think you notice is your phone lying on the edge of the sink. You move to go grab it, and you instinctively glance to the side. What you see makes you freeze. The shower curtain is not as opaque as you were expecting. You can clearly see James's silhouette behind the curtain, but one thing stands out. 

James is quite clearly, obviously, hard. 

There’s no way he’s realised that you can tell, or else he wouldn’t be standing at that angle. He’s far too shy about his body for that to be a deliberate move, which leaves you with two options. 

Option 1. Grab your phone, leave and never speak of this again. 

Option 2. Throw caution to the wind, make a move and pray that you were reading your earlier encounter correctly. 

You consider for a moment, but your body is thrumming with desire, and that makes the decision for you. Carefully, you put your phone back down on the sink, and consider your plan of attack. You decide to go for a classic, mostly because at the very least he’ll appreciate the joke. 

“James... Is that a loofah or are you just happy to see me?” 

The silence after your statement is deafening. You can see that he has frozen behind the shower curtain, and you realise that he’s probably freaking out. You decide to take pity on him. “Its OK James, I’ve been having some pretty hot sex dreams about you for the last few days.” Still nothing from behind the curtain. You think of your promise to Ed, and try one more time. “I’ve come to realise over the last few months of living together that I really like you James. I missed you so much when you were in Australia, the flat was just too quiet without you here. Most of all though you’re my friend, and I never want to lose that. If you want me to go just say the word and I won't mention this ever again.” 

You wait with baited breath, but there is still no movement or sound from James. Disheartened, you grab your phone and head for the bathroom door. As you turn the handle, the shower curtain rattles. You turn round to see that James has poked his head round. He looks confused and cautious, but you can see a glimmer of hope there. “You mean all of that?” 

You simply nod, dry mouthed. 

The caution in his face lifts, and the smile that breaks out over his face is infectious. You can’t stop yourself from grinning like a maniac, but you don’t care. Abruptly you’re reminded that he’s still naked and mostly hard, and your arousal comes back full force. You raise an eyebrow at him. “Room for another one in there?” 

He blushes, but the grin doesn’t fade. “I thought you were going out tonight?” 

You glance at your phone, and quickly message your group of friends that something came up at the last minute and you'd have to cancel on them tonight, but you would explain later. Message sent, you look back at James “Something more important came up.” 

If anything, his smile gets bigger. You put your phone away and start stripping off your clothes. You can feel James's eyes on you, but you don’t let yourself look at him again until you’re naked too. When you look back, the sheer lust in his eyes blows you away. You step forward and pull the shower curtain away from him and push it back. You see him swallow, hard, as you reveal him fully to your gaze, and he’s just as gorgeous as you had imagined. Yes, he’s pale and skinny, as you expected, but it suits him so well. His cock is gorgeous too, long and slender like the rest of him. You reach out to touch, like you can’t help yourself, and the noise that comes out of him surprises both of you with it’s intensity. He steps back and reaches for you to help you into the shower with him. You gladly take his hand and let yourself be led. James turns to put the water back on, and you take the opportunity to touch all the bare skin you can reach, just to watch him shiver. The water turns on and he turns back to you, and with one smooth move you find yourself pressed gently against the shower wall. You’re both so close, but it’s James who leans in first to kiss you. 

The kiss starts gentle but it doesn’t stay that way for long. The deeper and filthier the kiss gets, the closer you pull him until James is pressed right up against you, his erection pressing against your belly. You can feel how hard he is, and you have a sudden mental image of James in the shower alone, touching himself. The image is so strong that you have to ask, when he moves down to press open mouthed kisses to your neck. “Were you in here just now, _fuck_ , touching yourself, _oh god James_ , thinking about me?” 

He pulls away from your neck, only to capture your lips again in a bruising kiss. “Yeah, saw you all dressed up tonight and just knew you were looking for a fuck. Couldn’t get the image out of my mind.” You arch up against him at his words, because he’s right. You were looking for a fuck tonight, but never in a million years did you think it would be him. You groan as he suddenly pulls back but it changes to a gasp as he drops to his knees in front of you. He grins up at you through his fringe. “I knew all that kneeling would be good for something.” Before you can formulate a response, his mouth is on you. 

You feel your knees go weak, and you have to grab on to him for support. His mouth is amazing, his tongue working magic on your most sensitive areas. He wraps one hand around your hip to steady you, and the way his fingers curl around you just remind you of how long and beautiful his fingers are. You manage to gasp out a request in between the constant stream of moans he’s coaxing from you. “God, want your fingers, James please...!” 

He pulls away for a breath, and as you glance down to complain you’re hit by twin bolts of lust at the look on his face, and the fingers that he’s just slid inside you. Your eyes roll back in your head, and you just about have the presence of mind to wrap your fingers in his hair and tug. “Don’t be so smug.” He simply groans in response and goes back to work, his mouth and tongue working in tandem with his fingers, pushing you higher and higher until you crash over the other side into bliss. You’re vaguely aware that you’re shouting his name along with a stream of praise for his skills. Only once you push him away does he stop, gently withdrawing his fingers from you, making you shiver with aftershocks. You look down in time to see him tilt his head back into the spray, rinsing his face off and shaking the water out of his eyes. You watch as his eyes open to meet yours. They’re almost black with pupil, and you watch as he climbs to his feet and surges to kiss you. You kiss back, feeling the fizzle of fresh arousal singing in your veins. It’s going to take you a while to be ready to go again, but in the meantime, you have something else to be attending to. 

“Poor James, having to wait.” You reach out to stroke his cock, causing him to groan and drop his head to your shoulder, his hips thrusting into your hand once before he gets himself under control. “You’ve been so good, making me cum first, but it’s your turn now.” You don’t plan the words, they just fall out of your mouth, but the effect they have on James is amazing. He groans deep in his chest, and his hips hitch, like he’s trying to hold it together and failing. You make a mental note to revisit that reaction at a later date, and instead just pull your hand away, earning another, more pained groan from him. “Switch places,” you murmur in his ear, “I want to return the favour.”

You’ve never seen him move so fast without dessert being involved. He pulls you with him as he steps away from the wall, and manages to swap places before you’ve registered it. He rests his hand on his cock, not stroking, just touching, like he needs the contact to remind himself that this is actually happening. You smile at him as you take your turn to sink to your knees, salivating as you push his hand away to replace it with yours before guiding the head into your mouth. The groan from above echoes in the bathroom, and as you glance up you can see James has his eyes closed and his head thrown back against the wall. You smile to yourself and sink down as far as you can, just to see his reaction. He starts up a litany of swearing and praise, and one of his hands sinks into your hair, not pushing or guiding, just resting there like he needs that connection to stop himself from flying apart.

You consider teasing him, but decide to show him no mercy, knowing that he’s been waiting longer than you did. It doesn’t take long for him to gasp out a warning before shuddering and spilling into your mouth. You swallow on instinct, and you pull off him only to be pulled to your feet and kissed within an inch of your life. You relax into it as the kiss slows, until you’re just leaning your foreheads together, breathing in the same space. You open your eyes to see a look of contentment on James's face, the kind that you’ve only seen after he’s eaten a really good dessert. His eyes flicker open and your smile softens. “Hey.” 

He grins back at you. “Hey.” Suddenly his smile falls. “You were after a fuck tonight.” 

You roll your eyes. “Honestly, this was incredible. Also, we’ve got all night.” James grins at you, surprisingly filthy for someone that came not 5 minutes ago. “And lots of future nights, I hope. Plenty of time to really learn how to make you scream my name.” 

You feel your breath catch, not just at the filth coming out of his mouth but at the idea of having this all the time. You couldn’t think of a better plan. 

The cooling water drives both of you to get out of the shower and dry off. James goes to stick his t-shirt back on, but you grab his wrist and pluck the t-shirt from his fingers. He looks at you, and you simply smile, gather your own clothes and walk out of the bathroom, throwing the t-shirt into James’s open bedroom door before heading in to your room. You hear James follow behind, stopping off at his own room to throw his clothes in a heap before following after you. You can’t stop yourself from smiling, and you reach for your phone again. 

Across London in a crowded pub, Ed Gamble picks up his phone, reads the message there and then, because no one is looking, does a little fist pump to himself in victory. 


End file.
